Hollow and Faceless: A Mindbender Collection
by KeshaRocks
Summary: What happened to Hadrian while he was trapped in the dreamworld? How did he meet Jolene? What trail of events caused him to betray her? And what triggered him to help Hiccup in his time of peril? All of these questions Hadrian can answer. And one day, Hiccup has the courage to ask him. From the Mindbender series comes a story told from the perspective of popular character Hadrian.
1. Prologue

"_I'm not myself. I feel like I'm someone else. Fallen and Faceless. So hollow inside. A part of me is dead. Can you replace it? I'm hollow._

_Hollow and Faceless_."

* * *

Hadrian sits on the wooden countertop, his journal sprawled across his lap and charcoal pencil in hand. He constantly has the urge to itch his eyes as the ends of his hair tickle his lids with spiderweb wisps. His piercing jade green eyes skip across the page, following the flow of his handwriting as the words in his mind manifest onto the parchment.

Outside, the weather of Berk has been blessed by the gods, as it's a pleasant summer day with a cool breeze coming in from the sea, carrying the salty aroma along with the perfume of flowers.

Villagers walk on by in the Sqaure, chatting and mingling with one another carrying burlap sacks and satchels to each stall and view its wares. Hadrian turns his head to look out the window of Gobber's blacksmith and dentist shop, his gaze shifting ahead to the fluffy clouds in the blue sea sky beyond the treeline.

Hiccup was down at the Academy doing his monthly health checkup on all the dragons. Hadrian would've attended, but besides the fact that it was at the bottom of the list of things he didn't give a crap about, he had to assist Gobber at the shop today and take inventory. It was his breaktime and Hadrian decided to use it to write his letter to Heather.

Since her and her family decided to move off of Berk, she and Hadrian agreed to keep in touch through Hiccup's new invention of 'air mail'. When timed right, they would receive each other's letters within a week tops. Given she's moved out, Hadrian was debating on whether or not to consider starting to scour the women of the village, but that thought was obliterated when Heather gave him the most unforgettable kiss goodbye, he'd received.

She hasn't left his thoughts since.

As he reaches the lower half of the parchment, he hears his name called from outside. "Hadrian!"

He looks up, flipping his hair out of his eyes and spots Hiccup jogging towards the shop. Hadrian smiles and waves back, marking the page of his journal before clapping it shut and setting it aside on the counter.

Hiccup walks in and smiles. "Hey, what are you up to?"

"Just finishing my weekly letter to Heather."

"Oh, hey that rhymed." Hiccup chuckles.

"I'm a poet and didn't know it." Hadrian adds. He hops off the counter and takes the book in back towards Hiccup's small room where he keeps most of his new sketches and ideas.

"Hey do you know where Gobber is?"

"I think he said something about having to deliver a new hammer to the Atticus family. Said it was a gift for their son's birthday." Hadrian says.

"Oh okay." Hiccup sighs and takes Hadrian's spot on the counter, folding his legs criss-cross.

"So, how did things go at the arena?" Hadrian asks as he pulls out an old sword from below along with a tainted red cloth.

"Fine, though Thornado had a bit of a tooth problem. I recommended he see Gobber."

"How bad? What's the category?" Hadrian slyly asks as he begins to polish the blade of the sword.

"Let's just say that giving him those old yak jerkys did a lot more than give him bad gas." Hiccup leans in whispering and Hadrian laughs as he slides the blade of the sword into hearth.

"Gross. You need to tell Stoick to stop sneaking his food off to the dragons." says Hadrian.

"And of course Snotlout kept insisting that Hookfang was fine in all places he because he's "His Dragon."" Hiccup says with air quotes and Hadrian rolls his eyes. "But of course he had two cavities and one brown tooth that'll have to be removed."

"Oh, jeez."

"Hookfang on the other hand is doing well."

Hadrian laughs and sweeps his bangs out of his face. He leans against the side of the hearth with folded arms and crossed ankles. "How's Lightning?"

"Great. Not a single cavity or infection. And that's saying something since Skrills are known to have sensitive teeth due to the electrical current waning the enamel."

"Thanks." Hadrian smiles.

Lightning is a black and red-striped Skrill that Hadrian, arguably captured from the wilds and tamed.

He had worked so hard to earn the trust he has now with Lightning, and even when the Berserkers took him away, Hadrian wasn't about to give up. Through a series of events as well as battles between Berserker and Outcast, Hadrian managed to retrieve Lightning, and put an end to Dagur the Deranged, the once twisted ruler of the Berserkers. In his place now, rules his sister, and so far peace has been maintained after the tribes signed a Treaty of Valknut.

As Hiccup and Hadrian talk, a sudden rise of giggles drifts their attention to the window. Both look out and find a group of girls huddled outside, cheeks a pale red and giggles pouring from their pink lips. Once they realize Hadrian's looking, they all smile and wave.

"Hi ladies." he greets.

Hadrian smiles amusingly in return and gives a casual wave. One would think that he just proposed as the girls squeal and their giggles erupt into laughter. They all wave again before scurrying off towards the Plaza.

"Still nice to see you're the town heartthrob." Hiccup teases.

"Knock it off." Hadrian dismisses as he turns to pull out the now glowing orange sword.

"Knock off what?" Hiccup laughs. "I'm just stating the obvious."

"What's so amusing to you about me getting attention from girls?" Hadrian asks as he hammers away at the glowing blade.

"Just the fact that you got you goof looks from me, obviously. Um, you were once a hated enemy, but now you're the talk of the village. And the fact that it annoys you when I tease you about it." Hiccup laughs.

Hadrian is about to reply, when Fishlegs calls their attention. They look to see him running up towards the shop, Meatlug lugging behind him. "Hiccup, Hadrian." He calls.

Hadrian dumps the sword into the water and Hiccup hops off the counter to meet him at the entrance of the shop. At first the boys think he's frantic, but the closer he gets, the more obvious it is that he's annoyed.

"Hiccup, hey." He greets through bated breaths.

"Hey, Fishlegs what's wrong?" Hiccup asks as Hadrian wipes his hands on the same red cloth.

"Aw, they're at it again." Is all Fishlegs says.

Hiccup's eyes widen for a moment before turning to Hadrian, who only rolls his eyes and sighs in annoyance.

Tossing the red cloth aside, Hiccup takes Hadrian's hand and leads him through the crowds of people and towards the arena, Fishlegs now riding Meatlug while the boys jog together.

As they reach the Academy, the roars of the dragons can be heard from the entrance. Hiccup jogs into the arena with Fishlegs where he finds Astrid with her hands on her hips, standing next to her Deadly Nadder, Stormly. The twins are simply sitting on their Zippleback Barf and Belch. Hadrian casually strolls in after Hiccup.

Toothless, Hiccup's Night Fury stands behind Lightning as he faces off against Hookfang, Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare.

The two dragons roar and growl at one another; Lightning's body rippling with electric waves that travel across his torso and glimmering his scales. Hookfang roars and his whole body ignites with flames, as it known for a Monstrous Nightmare having the nasty habit of setting themselves on fire.

Hookfang stands on his hind legs and bares his teeth, spreading his wings wide. Lightning growls and sneers, and as he roars the lightning on his body spits and twitches before fanning out around his spread wings. Both dragons try to roar over one another, and Snotlout stands idly by, a grin on his face.

"What is it with dragons and showing dominance?" Hadrian asks in annoyance, leaning his arm on Hiccup's shoulder and crossing on ankle over the other.

"It's just nature." Fishlegs answers instead. "Claw, tooth and fang."

"They've been doing this for ten minutes." Astrid chimes. "Toothless got Lightning to calm, but Hookfang being the pet of Snotlout, provoked him."

As the dragons roar again, Hiccup look to Hadrian. "Hadrian, please. Do something."

Hadrian sighs and strolls in front of Lightning; the Skrill's bellowing ceases instantly.

"That's right buddy. Calm down. You're better than that overly self-absorbed Snotlout, you know." He babytalks to the Skrill, pursing his lips and wagging the Skrill's face back and forth. The Skrill coos and nuzzles into Hadrian, purring.

Toothless nuzzles Hadrian's hand, and after receiving a few scratches, trots over to Hiccup.

"Well, that's better." Hiccup sighs. "Now, Snotlout you need to teach Hookfang not to be so domineering."

"Why? He should be known as the dominant species." Snotlout counters.

By now, Hadrian leans his elbow on Lightning's snout, his other hand poised on his hip. He raises and eyebrow and looks to the Skrill. Lightning has a similar expression as he looks to Hadrian.

"Hookfang is a Monstrous Nightmare, the most vicious dragon in the Acapelago. He should be known for his doma-deer-ing presence."

"Domi_neer_ing." Hadrian corrects.

"Whatever, the point is, he is the best dragon, and should be treated as such." Snotlout finalizes the argument, folding his arms and stomping one foot. "Just like his owner."

"Right, that's why all those girls out front are here holding Hadrian posters and calling for Hadrian's attention." Ruffnut points out.

"What?" Hadrian and Hiccup say in unison.

She points upwards over Hadrian's shoulder and all turn to find a group of girls waving handkerchiefs and hands, giggling at Hadrian as he leans against Lightning with crossed arms.

"And isn't the Night Fury the most feared dragon of all?" Fishlegs reminds.

"Yeah, remember how he was like the biggest prize back when we were hunting dragons?" Tuffnut chimes in. "I heard you could have plenty of food for a month just from getting one scale!"

"Wait, is that why you were trying to pluck a scale of Toothless while we were getting him groomed?!"

"No. Maybe. I don't know, quit pressuring me!" Tuffnut defends.

Snotlout growls, his face turning red. "Look! The point is-!"

As he yells, Hadrian looks to Lightning and slyly smiles. Paining his pointer finger at Snotlout, his thumb pointed upward towards the sky, with a flick of his wrist, Lightning clicks his tongue and a thin bolt zaps across the arena and nails Snotlout in his metal helmet. He instantly begins to talk gibberish, his eyes wonky as his body twitches and stiffens.

Once he falls to the floor stiff as a plank, Hadrian's voice rings out.

"Well, looks like that's over. Can we all go home now?"

"Please." Hiccup agrees. "Alright everyone, dismissed."

Later that night, Hadrian sits in his room at Stoick and Hiccup's house, his journal opened and across the calf of one leg across the other. He scribbles in it the event of the arena, and as he decides to draw her a picture, Hiccup knocks on his door.

"Come in." Hadrian calls. The door opens a second later.

"Hey, dinner's almost ready." Hiccup informs.

"Thanks." Hadrian smiles. "What is it?"

"Fish stew."

"Ew, really?" Hiccup nods, his lips folded in. "Well, tell Stoick I'll be a while. Tell him I have an upset tummy." Hadrian emphasizes by patting his stomach.

"From what?"

"That yak jerky."

Hiccup laughs as he saunters over to Hadrian's bed. "That was one of the worst meals be ever made."

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't have told him to feed it to Hookfang."

"You what?!" Hiccup exclaims in laughter. He hops onto Hadrian's bed, rocking Hadrian as he sets his journal on the end table. "Poor Snotlout."

"Poor Hookfang. I'm beginning to think that was a bad idea." Hadrian laughs. "How much longer until dinner?"

"About an hour." Hiccup answers.

"And how is that soon?" Hadrian pokes at Hiccup's forehead. Hiccup laughs smacking his hand away.

"I might've miscalculated." Hiccup defends. "But I actually needed to talk to you."

"About what?"

"You." Hadrian looks up to Hiccup on confusion. "I want to ask you something." Hiccup says leaning closer.

"Why, Hiccup. This, this is all so, so sudden!" Hadrian places his hand on his chest and gasps. He lamely pretends to be surprised and shocked, like when a husband proposes to a wife. Knowing this, Hiccup smacks Hadrian's bicep.

"Come on! I'm trying to be serious." Hiccup whines.

"Sorry, sorry. So what's up?" Hadrian leans back against the bed, propping up on his elbows. "Need some girl tips?"

Hiccup had cast his gaze aside to try and configure the proper wording of the question he wanted to ask; but this remark makes him whirl to face Hadrian, only to see Hadrian staring at him, amused by some private joke, and Hiccup's stomach turns several lopsided backflips at the sight of him lying on the bed like that.

Hiccup sighs. "Look, what I want to ask you is, kind of random, out of nowhere, and frankly intrusive. So I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, but just so you know if this is going where I think it's going, I can't help you there." Hadrian jokes.

Hiccup looks to him, and Hadrian smiles.

"I want to know," Hiccup starts, his tone dropping to a softer octave. "what was it like. When you were trapped by Lilith, or Jolene?"

Hadrian's amused look falls and he looks to Hiccup in concerned curiosity. "What? Why would you want to know that?"

"I'm curious."

"I know, but there's got to be more to it than that." Hadrian says.

"There is."

"You know it's not something I like to remember." Hadrian reminds.

"I, I know it's weird, but I feel like, what happened to you in there, it was all my fault." Hiccup says, lowering his gaze to the splintery floorboards.

There's a silence before Hadrian softly speaks. "Hiccup, I'm just as much at blame as you."

"Well, yeah but . . ."

"Don't blame yourself. Never do." Hadrian says placing a reassuring hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "The past is in the past. Let it go."

"Yeah but, will you at least tell me about it? Please?"

Hadrian sighs and relaxes his legs over the edge of the bed. He sits with his elbows to his knees, fingers intertwined between them. He runs the tip of his tongue over his teeth behind closed lips as he debates. Looking back to Hiccup, he only speaks with his soft green eyes and gently expression.

Running his fingers through his hair, he sighs and clicks his tongue. "Okay. If you insist."

Hiccup joyfully whispers "Yes" while pumping his fists in the air. He then quickly adjusts the way he's seated, grabbing a pillow and huddling it to his middle. Hadrian crosses his legs and continues to rest his elbows on his knees.

"Where do I start?" he asks.

"Right after I trapped you in the book." Hiccup answers.

"Happy times." Hadrian jokes.

Before Hiccup has the chance to reply, he clears his throat and clicks his teeth.

"Okay, after you trapped me in the book, I was transported to a world of ash. I was tired and stumbling all over the place, so I needed to find shelter . . ."


	2. Chapter 1

Hadrian's body plummets towards the ground. The wind whistles in his ear, fluttering his hair frantically and flapping his clothes. His hands are raw from the use of energy thrust in battle against Hiccup. He increases pace as the cylindrical of heat around him whispers along his skin.

Pain is a constant companion – stabbing him with every breath and making a mockery of his attempts to awaken. His rib is once again throbbing, his arms and legs ache fiercely with bone-deep bruises, and his eyes are nearly swollen shut.

As he feels himself delve deeper, he recaps the battle.

After Hiccup had somehow found the strength to defeat him, Hadrian was sent plummeting downward into the darkness of the world, the demons desperately clawing and cawing and howling for his blood. Hadrian had managed to fight them off, but not without every one of them marking his skin with their claws at least once.

Plummeting down through the funnel of fire and lightning, Hadrian tries to lift his head or to rotate his body, but even that takes a great amount of effort. The earth grows near at alarming speed, when he finally manages to angles himself correctly. But it's still not enough.

The impact of the hard-packed ground knocks the wind out of Hadrian. His back crashes into the dirt and his momentum flips him through the air and then he hits his arm, and after another flip, he slides across the ash coated ground before stopping by bumping into the black skeletal remains of a tree.

The pain spreads black dots across his vision, and he feels like he's about to vomit. Still, Hadrian attempts to push himself to his hands and knees. His arm shakes and collapses from the pressure. He is so tired. He wants to lie down, sink beneath the ashes and dirt, let it all slide gently into his lungs and carry him away. He wants to, but he can't. Because his debt has not yet been paid.

Arcane words of healing flow from his lips in a whispered tone. It's a simple spell, not enough to heal him completely, but to at least get him to his feet. Grabbing the side of the trunk, Hadrian digs his nails into the bark and hauls himself to his feet. Cupping his abdomen, Hadrian manages to stand on his feet, but his right ankle hurts from putting too much pressure on it.

That ratchet Hiccup. Trapping him in that old hag's book, and yet inside it is a world of its own creation.

All around him, the world is a dim grey. The sky is nearly black with silver clouds flying overhead. A purple twilight mist dwindles along the scenery. Hadrian is in the middle of a wasteland of ash and dried trees. Dry is the best term because they look as if something had sucked the life and nutrients out of them, leaving them emaciated and drooping in sorrow. Down to his left is a deep valley of paper flowers, they waft in the breeze and stir up a flock of ravens. The wind whispers to him, and raindrops as they're falling tell a story.

At first, he thinks it's an illusion, but not it's not; when he squints and peers closer, the land suddenly stops, and floating by is a another flat set of land with one tree on it. Hadrian peers across father where he hears a clicking and deep chirping, and he finds a strange looking creature with two distinctive tusks, walking on his front knuckles. As he reaches the edge of his own rock platform, several others drifting mindlessly in the space, suddenly turn and line up together into a bridge that leads him to another wider rock bridge. Monsters call his name, creatures of the night, their gazes burn through his skin.

He needs to find shelter.

A cave will be best, hopefully it'll be uninhabited. If not, at least whatever he fights will hopefully make a decent meal. Before he can even think about finding one, he needs to make do with his injured ankle. Using what little strength he has, Hadrian only conjures up a duel set of long knives, which are shorter than a sword, arguably called daggers, and a sheath with only seven arrows and a simple hunting bow.

He rips off a branch that will do for a walking stick and grits his teeth as he starts off. Even with no sun, Hadrian can tell he's dehydrating fast. He tries to think of everything he knows about finding water. It runs downhill, so, in fact, continuing down into the valley isn't a bad thing. But his head is aching, and there's a dry patch on his tongue that refuses to moisten.

Hadrian tries to distract himself by conjuring up images of Hiccup suffering at his hands. The sound of his dying gasp, his dragon squealing in his grasp, and the mournful cry of the villagers.

Fatigue is beginning to settle on him, but it's not the usual tiredness that follows a long hike. Hadrian has to stop frequently, although he knows the only cure for what ails him requires continued searching.

What troubles him the most is why he is so hungry and injured? Being the realm of altered reality, he should be free of the burden of maintaining hydration and hunger. It astounds but angers him on how he could still be part human. How? Why? It could be that even when he dethatched himself from Hiccup, he became his own person; like he wanted. But now it would seem that his greatest wish is now his greatest burden.

He's just passing a wall of rocks when there's an explosion.

It's like fire blossoming from a bud. Chunks of rock and dirt spray from the center of the bloom, and Hadrian's body is among them, a limp projectile. He feels his body slam into something hard, either another rock or the wall, then there's another adamantine smack of the packed earth beneath his. An acrid smoke fills the air, which is not the best remedy for someone trying to regain the ability to breathe. A deep rumble moves through Hadrian like a shudder.

As he tries to push himself to his feet, he hears the hissing and his body goes cold. He dodges and grips a stalactite just as another fiery explosion thrusts his body against a rock overhang. His nails can't dig into the stone before another hissing hurdles toward him. Hadrian drops and pain stabs his jaw and spreads across his face, making his vision go black at the edges and his ears ring. Hadrian blinks and lurches to the side as the world dips and sways.

_What the hell?!_

Hadrian blinks and finds a shirtless man running towards him, wards of lightning and fire in his hands. Hadrian is too off-balance to do anything but move away from him, as far as his legs will allow. There's the zapping sound of lightning, and soon Hadrian feels the electric current bite his in the leg, then lick its way up his thigh and through his shoulders. A scream of pain bursts from his mouth and he feels dizzy.

"You never should have come here!" The man taunts.

He grabs a handful of Hadrian's hair and slams his head against something hard. The man darts in front of Hadrian and kicks him hard in the stomach. His foot forces the air from Hadrian's lungs and it hurts, hurts so badly Hadrian can't breathe, or maybe that's because of the kick, he doesn't know, he just falls.

_On your feet_ is the only thought in his mind. He pushes himself up, but the man is already there. He grabs Hadrian's hair again and punches him in the nose with the other. The pain is different, less a stab and more like a crackle, crackling in his brain, spotting his vision with different colors, blue, green, red. He punches Hadrian again, this time in the ribs. Hadrian's face is wet. Bloody nose. More red, he guess, but he's too dizzy to look down. The blood streaming from Hadrian's nose is thick and dark and covers his fingers in seconds.

Hadrian falls again, scraping his hands on the ground, blinking, sluggish and slow and hot. He coughs up spits of blood and drags himself to his feet. He really should be lying down if the world is spinning this fast. There's the pinching of skin and Hadrian can feel saliva of the ravens. Annoyed, Hadrian rolls rover so the animal's beneath him and slashes his blade deep into the side of its neck. Flames chomp him from the side and Hadrian almost falls again.

_On my feet. On my feet_! Hadrian screams, a high screech that belongs to someone else and not him. Hadrian tackles the man and pins him to the ground. Hadrian punches, and the man moves his head out of the way, but Hadrian punches again, and again, until his fists hit his jaw, his nose, his mouth. Hadrian digs his nails into the man's skin as if it's a wall he has to climb, he claws his way up his body. Blood runs down the side of the man's face and splatters on the ground next to his cheek.

Hadrian is screaming, harsh bursts of sound that flay the air with their fury. It's as if all his anger, at anything in the world was now condensed into theses screams along with his flailing fists. The man howls and drags one of his arms free. He punches Hadrian in the ear, knocking him off balance and wriggles free. His hand glows gold and Hadrian can tell it's a healing spell. He snarls and grabs the man's wrist and snaps his hand backwards. He cries out a howl of pain and Hadrian reaches for her dagger.

Hadrian flips the blade out, grabs the man by his hair at the forefront of his skull, keeping his head pinned down and drives her knife deep into his chest; burying it to the hilt. He sags deflating slowly onto the dirt. His blood seeps along the knife hilt, thick and warm, and coats Hadrian's hands.

He doesn't care.

The anger of his flames and lightning nipping his body fuels Hadrian's rage, and he stabs him again, this time in the stomach. The annoying ability that he can run and heal himself while Hadrian's left to drip blood. He stabs the man again, this time slashing his face. Blood springs from it and splatters on his face. Anger of other past occasions. Another stab to the chest.

Suddenly Hiccup's face flashes in his head and Hadrian gasps and practically falls off the man's body as if he had been flung back by an invisible force. He gasps and scoots himself back against the wall. He breathes through gritted teeth, staring at the man's blood-covered face, the color deep and rich and beautiful, in a way.

He groans, and Hadrian hears a gurgling in his throat, and he stills. Hadrian can feel blood trickle from his eyebrow and lip. He wipes the sweat from his forehead.

Hadrian struggles to his feet, wiping blood from his eyebrow with his sleeve.

"It's over." he mutters to himself. "I won."

Hadrian stays pressed to the wall for a moment, letting the feeling of nausea well through him. Vomiting might actually be a relief. The adrenaline starts to finish its course through his body, and Hadrian holds his stomach. He coughs to encourage it, but his stomach is empty.

He sits on a rock for a moment, holding his head in his head. Looking to the far left of the room, there's the nest and an alchemy lab. Hadrian's heart leaps in his throat, and suddenly all the pains in his body vanish for seconds as he hurries over to the lab. There's a chest next to it with a bottle of Healing lying atop it.

Hadrian frantically takes the bottle, popping the cork and gulps the entire bottle down; the liquid tastes like spoiled berries, but as soon as it passes his throat, his nausea is instantly gone. As his pain begins to decrease, he forces herself to take a breath. He feels the magic of the serum work all along his body. The pain in his muscles reduces to a mere throb, his urge to vomit vanishes and he can feel his wounds being healed. He touches his forehead, and his fingers come away red. Compared to the gushing gash from before, his fingers are merely smeared.

He takes a deep breath and rises from his seat on the chest.

"I'm okay." he whispers. I'm fine now," he says again, this time for himself.

He wishes he could say he feels guilty for what he did.

He doesn't.

Pushing to his feet, Hadrian tries not to look at the man's slashed face, but the dim light glows on what looks like bone, and he gags.

_Think_. He doesn't care who he was, or what his name was, or how old he was. Hadrian only cares if he has anything useful. Hadrian manages to find a small book about as big as his hand and flips through it to find it to be a small spell book. Hadrian sighs and takes it as well as a small dagger he finds tucked away in the man's boot.

Well he certainly gave Hadrian a warm welcome.

Sighing, Hadrian grabs the man by the wrists and hauls him onto his shoulders. Despite the warmth running down his spine, and the sloshing of the blood moistened skin against skin, Hadrian swallows back bile as he brings the man outside the cave.

Twenty yards out, Hadrian drops the man unceremoniously and after checking his perimeter, Hadrian wafts his hands over himself; having them glow a light green and the red peels off and Hadrian splatters it onto the man's body. Once he's sure there's no amount of crimson on him, Hadrian trudges back to the cave.

Within a matter of fifteen minutes, Hadrian manages to build a fire. Still with no food, his stomach growls and Hadrian curls into himself in pain. Uncaring of his blood-covered hands, Hadrian wipes his nose. With the pains in his muscles reduced to a throb – and with the potion wearing off, his muscles have started to arise into a cacography of agony and strain.

His pale skin is smudged with like dirt. His armor is torn and battered. And his hands. His hands are covered in dirt and dried blood, and he clutches his knees sword like he's going to disappear if he lets go. A weight settles on Hadrian's shoulders and his heart sinks. A pool of ice cool fear hardening in the pit of his stomach. Panic erases all rational thought from his head.

Hadrian begins to rock himself back and forth in an attempt to calm himself.

Watching the fire's flames carefully, he shuts his eyes and surprisingly goes to sleep.

He doesn't dream, but when he awakens, he couldn't believe his eyes.

His ripped clothes have regenerated together like it's brand new. Lifting his hand, Hadrian is astonished to see his hand looking like it's been scrubbed clean, the nails filed in perfect ovals, the scars and burns are less prominent. The skin is perfection, smooth and glowing. Not only are the scars from the fight gone, but those accumulated over years of hunting and training are vanishing without a trace. His forehead feeling like satin, and when he tries to feel for a puckered scar, or the bump on his shoulder, there is nothing.

But there's actually something so much more astonishing.

Small white flowers lay at the foot of his cot, and many infant-sized footprints lead in and out of the cave. Hadrian sweeps a foot over the tracks, destroying any trace and stuffs the flowers into his only satchel.

He then proceeds to scoot himself away from the bag as if it's a venomous snake. His heart racing, he takes deep breaths to steady his head. He looks around to see if anything or anyone had left a form of indication it was human or monster.

Nothing.

He spends a good portion of the following day with sweaty palms and a racing heartbeat, and keeps one eye fixed on the fields of paper flowers.


	3. Chapter 2

"Wait, wait, wait; you were only in the world for no more than thirty seconds, and already you were attacked?" asks Hiccup.

"Yeah pretty much." Hadrian chuckles.

The boys are sitting on Hadrian's bed in the room of Hiccup's home. Hadrian sits with his back pressed against the wooden bedframe, arms and ankles crossed while Hiccup sits at the foot of the bed with his legs folded, and wide eyes on his face.

It is late in the evening, dinner nearly ready as Hadrian tells Hiccup his story of being trapped in the dream world. "Not too many pleasant people in that world." He says with a chuckle.

Hiccup shoulders sag. "I'm sorry." Hiccup says.

"Oh don't be all glum. It's not your fault."

Hiccup opens his mouth to reply when there's a knock on the door, and in steps Stoick. "Boys, dinner is ready."

"Okay." Hadrian replies. He slides off the bed and Hiccup follows behind as they descend the stairs.

Hiccup doesn't say anything as he follows behind him, his back muscles flexing as he casually swings his arms. Sometimes Hiccup still has a hard time believing Hadrian came from _him_. But at least now they are of equal height, and Hiccup is working on a new suit of leather armor that could thicken his built.

As Hiccup stares, he sees something he can't recall before. On the back of Hadrian's neck, poking out from the neckline of his tunic three tiny mark, almost like claws, rake down the back of his neck, directly on his spine. Hiccup swallows as his fingers drift up and tickle the back of Hadrian's neck. Upon reflex, Hadrian cringes and turns, placing a hand on the nape of his neck.

"Ah," he says, pausing on the stairs. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Sorry." Hiccup says as he lowers his head and bypasses Hadrian. Hadrian still rubs his neck.

They met at the table where Toothless coos, his ears perking up as he watches Hiccup and Hadrian walk to the table. Loading their plates with food, Hiccup waits until Hadrian's had a few good bites before Hiccup speaks again.

"So what happened next?"" he eagerly asks.

Hadrian finishes his mug of yak milk. He first squints his and gives the ceiling an angled look as he thinks. "Uh, nothing really. I spent the next week in that cave, salvaging a little bit before I had to move on."

"From what?"

Hadrian chuckles. "Truthfully, I don't know. I just saw this heard of . . . creatures sauntering along and coming towards the cave."

"Really? What kind of creatures?" Hiccup asks, Hadrian chuckling when he hears the excitement in Hiccup's voice. "You sound ecstatic now, but if you saw those creatures, you wouldn't be so eager."

Hiccup's smiles slightly fades, but doesn't totally dissipates. "I can't imagine anything growing in a place like that. Salvaging for food must've been hard."

"You'd be right."

"What are you lads talking about?" Stoick asks, not wanting to be excluded from the conversation.

"Oh Hiccup's just curious as to what happened to me while I was trapped in Grandmamma's Book of Hell." Hadrian explains, taking a bite of an apple. It is tart, with a sweet, honey-like aftertaste.

"Ah, I see. That is something that did always dawn on me. I can't imagine that it's the best of places." Stoick replies.

"As we've just established." Hadrian says as he motions to Hiccup and the two chuckle together.

"I've been meaning to say, Hadrian." Stoick says as he slices at his heap of yak meat. Hadrian and Hiccup both look up to Stoick who, after taking a bite of the meat and a gulp of water, clears his throat. "I always wondered how it is you managed to survive in that place. I don't speak much of it, but I can only imagine it's as bad as Hel."

"It wasn't easy; it's practically a miracle I still have my sanity after everything." Hadrian says.

"I can only imagine. Those horrid conditions, ash everywhere, nothing but bleak and grey -"

"I hope you have a point to all of this, Stoick."

"I do." He gives Hadrian a gentle smile. "My point is, while I'm sure all that conditioning might've been a well-rounded punishment from your, predicaments from before . . ." Hadrian rolls his eyes as he stirs his salad of greens with his fork. "To see how you are now, and everything you did to help Hiccup against that dreaded demon. It's amazed me how much you've changed and how much of an honorable man you have become."

Hadrian and Hiccup smile, Hadrian bashfully lowering his head as he feels Hiccup place his hand on top of Hadrian's. "Thank you, sir. That means a lot."

After dinner, when Hiccup is finished drying and loading the dishes into the rack, Hiccup saunters up to the bedroom where he finds Hadrian packing up his journal into a satchel.

"Wait, where are you going?" Hiccup asks.

"Back to my home." Hadrian says as he slings the satchel onto his shoulder. "I do need to sleep."

"Oh good I'll come with you." Hiccup chirps as he goes over to his dresser and starts to pull out a couple tunics.

"Um, I don't remember extending an invitation." Hadrian says.

"I don't need one."

"Says who?"

"Look," Hiccup huffs as he sloppily shoves two tunics and pants into Hadrian's large sack he uses for hunting. "You can't expect me to go to sleep when all I keep thinking about is your story."

Hadrian rolls his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose as Hiccup trots across the room and fetches his journal and a few charcoal pencils. "It was more hope than thought."

"Aw come on, what could be better than the two of us just sitting in your living room with our dragons and telling stories."

"And by that you mean I do all the talking."

"Not like you'd be interested in my back story since you know most of it." Hiccup says.

"Fine."

"Good!"

Hadrian sighs as Hiccup smiles and takes his hand leading him back downstairs. Hiccup whistles to catch Toothless' attention and the Night Fury pops his head up and croaks with excitement and hops around the boys as they head for the door.

"Dad, I'm staying with Hadrian for the night!" Hiccup calls.

"Alright. Be safe." Stoick says from the corner of the room as he sits carving a piece of wood with a dagger.

"We will!" Hiccup says as he pushes open the door. Toothless runs out and frolics in the flowers located at the edge of the hill as Hadrian and Hiccup walk over next door to Hadrian's home.

"So what happens next, in your story?" Hiccup asks along the way.

"I already told you," Hadrian chortles. "Nothing much. Although, I think was maybe, five weeks in, and I had managed to set up a shelter, did I get captured."

"By who?!"

Hadrian shrugs. "Some group of random demons. But . . . they weren't so random later on. They brought me to a slave mine to make me work."

"A _Slave_ Mine?" Hiccup carefully repeats, slowly as if to digest the word.

"Well, I use that term lightly." Hadrian's tone deepens and he looks to Hiccup with his gorgeous eyes, his brown hair delicately billowing in the gentle breeze that rips a few leaves from where they cling to the branches. Hiccup stares back, his heart racing. "It was a death camp."

Hiccup's heart nearly stops as well as his feet. He pauses, but Hadrian takes his hand and guides Hiccup towards the house. He doesn't say anything, only stares at Hadrian's back as his muscles flex.

As they approach the front porch, there's a huff and a slight roar. The boys have just looked over when the black and red stripped Skrill tackles Hadrian and into the grass. Hadrian hits the ground and grunts as the Skrill starts to lick his face over and over, purring.

"Okay, okay Lightning!" Hadrian laughs as he shoves the dragon off him. Hadrian carefully pushes to his feet and almost immediately Lightning and Toothless start to play with each other; hopping around and bobbing their heads, playing tug of war with a trunk of a tree.

Hadrian lets Hiccup inside as they hear the dragons shift out to the back, still huffing and playing. The fire in Hadrian's hearth is reduced to glowing embers, but he quickly relights it and blows on it until a flame blooms to life, crackling softly while Hiccup takes off his shoes by the front door. Lightning and Toothless come in through the backdoor and trot into the living room as Hadrian comes out with a couple mugs of lemon water.

"Mind if I change before you settle?" Hadrian asks.

"Go ahead. Although you could've done something to clean this place up." Hiccup smiles.

"Not like I was expecting any company." Hadrian chuckles. He heads upstairs and Hiccup drapes his jacket on the coatrack by the door. He set his satchel on the back of the chair and for a moment, gazes around Hadrian's home.

Hadrian's home, while slightly messy, it makes the place seem more like a home. There are some clothes draped over a washing basin, a small half folded into a neat pile in a basket placed next to it. There is an arrangement of flowers in a vase in the center of his dining table, and over in one corner near the stairs is a rack of weapons, including a shield he acquired from Gobber on Hadrian's "unofficial" birthday. A pot of some spicy-smelling stew is brewing over the fire, and fills the house. An iron chandelier shaped like a grapevine occupies most of the ceiling, spitting seeds of diamond fire onto the windows on the vaulted ceiling.

Hiccup makes his way into the kitchen and finds a diminutive pile of plates and bowls set on the countertop next to the water bucket, then a couple sack of potatoes, apples, flour tucked in the corner, cabinets filled with clean dishes and a bowl of multiple fruits.

With Toothless and Lightning playing with a large sized ball, Hiccup makes his way upstairs. It's not really considered snooping if he and Hadrian are friends, right?

The stairs lead to a small hallway with two doors on the left, one on the right. Passing the first room, the door of which is left open, is filled with weapons and armor lining the walls; including the one Hadrian wore when he traveled to Outcast Island to find Lightning.

Back then, Hadrian had captured Lightning after being convinced he needed a dragon to get around Berk.

Hiccup steps inside and walks over to the armor worn now by a faceless mannequin. The hood is pulled over its head, concealing all it features. The armor is pure ebony with a cloak even darker than the night. Along the wall are several of Hadrian's own hand-crafted swords, one of his favorite being a duel set of long knives, the metal an ominous ebony, easily concealed within Hadrian's belt. The blades are crafted from high carbon, tempered steel and comes with matching decorative scabbard. This wicked knife's hilt is cast metal and the deadly blade is blackened to a deep black luster and nicely balanced.

Exiting the room, Hiccup drifts further down the hall, passing by the bathing room before he comes to Hadrian's bedroom at the end of the hall. The door is open wide, and inside Hadrian has his shirt off and rummages through the drawer of his dresser for another. Hiccup's cheeks become warm, but he's unaware because his eyes find something disturbing. Three enormous lines rake down Hadrian's back, starting at the top of his neck, then each ending at the dimples in his back at the bottom of his spine.

Hiccup folds his lips in, biting the bottom one as he takes in the image of what once was Berk's most feared shadow doppelganger.

At a passing glance, one might think his eyes are green or grey, perhaps even blue, depending on the color of his clothing. Up close, though, these warring hues are offset by the brilliant ring of gold around his pupils. But it's his deep brown hair that catches the attention of most, hair that still maintains a glimmer of its glory. His chest having a glorious flame tattoo encased in a heart, directly over the spot where the organ lies. In short, Hadrian is blessed with a handful of attractive features that compensate for the majority of average ones.

His muscles expand and contract as he reaches into a mahogany dresser drawer and pulls out a simple grey shirt.

He was achingly handsome, and couldn't have been older than twenty.

"Are you enjoying looking at my scars?" Hadrian speaks, his voice low and raspy, seductive for any woman that would've been listening.

Hiccup instantly floods with embarrassment. He sucks on his lower lip for a moment. "When did you get those?"

"When do you think?" Hadrian says. Hiccup doesn't reply, and Hadrian looks up at the boy and gives a gentle smile, but behind it, Hiccup can see the pain that floods his features. "I received those my first day at the camp."

"What did you do to deserve it?"

"Deserve it?" Hadrian laughs sharply. "No one deserves to be whipped like an animal." Hiccup opens his mouth, but Hadrian cuts him off. "I arrived in unarmed, and they dragged me into the center of the camp, and tied me between the whipping posts. Something about establishing to the prisoners about who's in charge." Hadrian stares at Hiccup without entirely seeing him as the ash-grey sky bleeds through the window far behind him in the next room, and the hiss of the wind becomes the sighing of slaves. "That was before I had befriended any of the other slaves – and I spend that first night wondering if I would make it until morning, if my back would become infected, or I would bleed out and die before I knew what was happening."

Hiccup's eyes glimmer and he takes a deep, shaking breath; the image of Hadrian tied between two wooden posts, his back a raw slab of meat, and those three scars the most distinct out of every slit in his back. His blood painting the cobblestone, his face gleaming with sweat and every harsh burst of pain he emits when the crack of the whip sounds. It makes Hiccup almost sink to the floor, but they remain locked as he stares at Hadrian.

"Did no one help you?" His tone seems more angry than pained.

"Only in the morning. A young woman slipped me a tin of salve while we were waiting in line for breakfast. I never got to thank her. Later that day, four overseers raped and killed her." Hadrian clenches his hands into fists as his eyes sting. "And the day I snapped, I stopped by their section of the mines to repay them for what they did to her." Something rushes through Hadrian's veins. "They died too quickly."

Hadrian holds the shirt in his fist, it slightly wavers with the tremor of rage. His lips fold in and he closes his eyes, either to say a prayer or to try and banish the rushing images from his mind. Despite the possible awkwardness, Hiccup takes a brave step into the room, but before he can offer Hadrian a word of comfort or a warm embrace, Hadrian exhales heavily, freezing Hiccup in his tracks.

"Let's continue this conversation down stairs." Hadrian says.

Hiccup doesn't argue. "Okay."

"I'll be down in a minute."

Hiccup turns and exits the room too quickly but he turns back to watch Hadrian pull over his tunic, covering the three scars. Sighing, Hiccup heads back down the stairs as he hears Hadrian follow behind him, closing the door to the bedroom. Hiccup listens to the footsteps behind him as they head down the stairs and back into the general dining room where Toothless and Lightning have since cast aside their red ball and have snuggled together in a corner near the fireplace. Toothless rests his head on Lightning's, but both their eyes open and heads groggily rise as their masters come and take their chosen seats at the table.

"Can I get you anything?" Hadrian asks as he points a lazy finger to the kitchen.

"Uh, just some water." Hiccup timidly says.

It's a minute when Hadrian returns with two glasses of water with a slice of lemon on the rim. He sets them on the table and Hiccup gives a small smile with a quiet "Thank You." Hadrian sits across from Hiccup, who has taken out his journal and pencil, flipping open to the middle section. As Hadrian takes a sip from his glass, Hiccup nervously taps at the journal.

"Aren't you going to ask me, anything?" Hadrian smiles. Hiccup lifts his gaze to him and doesn't answer. Hadrian gives a small and a breath that's only a small blow of air through his nose. "Hiccup, you can ask me anything. You're one of the few people I feel comfortable around, for obvious reasons, and I will answer to the best of my ability."

Biting his bottom lip, Hiccup takes a quaking breath. "About the camp, how long were you in there?"

"Only a year, but that only marks an hour back on earth. Most still wonder how that's possible when the average life expectancy in those mines is a month." Hadrian replies without hesitation. "Quite a mystery I'm sure."

"What did you do to get captured?"

"I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He pauses and looks a little bit over Hiccup's shoulder, his eyes going distant. "But, that book is an entire world all its own. A multitude of . . . creatures and people and demons living together; in colonies with rules, and all live under the iron fist of the Four Demon Queens. I was so bent on revenge against you that I just assumed everything and everyone was out to kill me for survival. But the monsters that captured me were rounding up anyone – or anything – they could find."

Hiccup begins to quickly scribble in his journal, though his eyes are frozen onto Hadrian.

"Those mines, I learned, supply a special mineral that is important to Lilith. Though no one tired anything because any sign of trouble was met with cruel retribution, death if you're lucky."

"And you never tried to escape or anything?" Hiccup's eyes drift to the parchment to make sure he's writing on the lines and as neatly a he can.

Disturbingly, a slow, wicked smile spreads across Hadrian's lips. "Once."

Hiccup's brows rise and he swallows, pausing his scribbling.

"And I made it." Hadrian grins almost, deviously.

"Mine was the _only_ incident to ever be recorded. It was the one year anniversairy I had arrived, I attempted to flee."

Hiccup waits for the rest of the story, but it seems he's clearly finished. "So? What happened then?"

"There's no hope of escaping that camp. Lilith made sure that each sentries posted could shoot a squirrel, or rather a _mortark_, from two hundred paces away."

"Mortark?" Hiccup repeats. He feels a brief bit of surprise as he hears Hadrian's accent change into that of a language he's never heard of.

"Little rat-like creature, bid red eyes, fanged teeth and about as big as a squirrel. They live in colonies. They're nocturnal and live in holes like mines or whatever place that is abandoned." Hadrian briefly describes.

Hiccup makes a mental note to sketch the creature later. He writes down the details and asks. "So, with the skill you described, I assume attempting to escape would be rather, difficult?"

"It would be suicide." Hadrian's smile fades as the memory strikes him.

Hiccup jerks his head up to Hadrian. His heart feels heavy enough to sink into his stomach. "What happened?"

"I told you. I snapped." Hadrian says as he ruffles his fingers through his hair. "During the attempt, I had killed guards and prisoners alike." He lowers his eyes to the floor, angling his head away. "It didn't matter who they were, if any of them stood in my way or didn't bother to move, I cut them down. I just slaughtered them like animals."

Hiccup swallows, only to find that his throat is tight. He didn't want to ask how many prisoners and guards there were all together. "And how far is the wall from the mines?" Hiccup asks.

Hadrian closes his eyes and sighs. "From my shaft, it was three hundred sixty-three feet. I had someone measure."

"How far do slaves make it from the mines when they try to escape?" Hiccup asks, already assuming the answer, but wants Hadrian to give a measurement.

"Three feet. The sentries usually shoot a man down before he's moved three feet."

Hiccup can feel his insides writhe and he has to take an extra long in hale through his nose to steady his voice when he speaks. Though, it doesn't work. "You knew it was suicide." He says at last.

Perhaps it had been a bad idea for Hadrian to bring up the wall. "Yes." He says. "But they didn't kill me." A chill that has nothing to do with the temperature goes through Hadrian. "I never intended to escape . . . but I did." The pity in Hiccup's eyes makes Hadrian want to leave the room.

"But, even after your attack, they still didn't . . ." Hiccup says, his voice trails off, unable to form the word.

Hadrian gives him a slow, bitter smile. "They were afraid of me to begin with. None of them dared to come close to me. But if one guard got too friendly . . . Well, he'd become the example that reminded the others I could easily snap, if I felt like it."

The crackling of the fire overtakes the silence between them. The word easily rings around in Hiccup's ear; filling him with caution. Lightning comes over, as if sensing Hadrian's pain and nuzzles his snout into the boy's hand. Hadrian keeps his gaze vacant as he scratches the Skrill's head. When he flicks to Hiccup, he can see tears in the boy's eyes.

"We each survive in our own way."

The thought astonishes Hiccup. In an hour, he would have simply finished all of his chores around the house on a weekend, but in parallel, Hadrian was being whipped into unconsciousness, and forced into labor and even carelessly risking his own life in the thought of death being far better than having to live one more day in that place. The comparison is enough to send a shiver rippling through his shoulders. Strong enough that Hiccup has to rub his arm as gooseskin starts to crawl along it.

To think this is what happened to him. To think that all he wanted was _freedom_. Freedom not just from the mines, but from that gods-forsaken prison of a book, but freedom out into the open world.

To think that all this happened because Hiccup couldn't understand that freedom is all Hadrian wanted . . .

Hiccup feels ill.

"So, what happened after that?" Hiccup asks, his cheeks growing warm as embarrassment abounds at how shaky his voice is. Lifting his gaze, he finds Hadrian with a warm smile. The tickling of Toothless' forked tongue makes Hiccup realize a few rebel tears have trickled down his cheeks. "Oh, excuse me." Hiccup stutters.

As he attempts to wipe his cheeks with the heel of his palm, he hears the groaning of wood, and a warm, callused hand rubs his head. Hiccup looks up with heartbeat rapid and finds Hadrian still smiling, his thumb stroking the front of Hiccup's forehead before he places his lips on Hiccup's skin. His lips feel warm, and soft, and smooth.

Pulling back, Hadrian presses their foreheads together. "It's okay, Hiccup." He whispers.

The words somehow reach into Hiccup's heart and coil their fingers around it, making his chest ache and his breathing hitch. Could his feelings of guilt be that obvious? Something inside Hiccup collapses and he soon release a few choked sobs, more tears stinging his eyes.

Hadrian lets Hiccup have his moment, merely standing off to the side, shifting between shifting between stroking his head or back. Hiccup quickly gathers himself after a minute and accepts a Hadrian offers. Sloppily blowing his nose, Hiccup takes a few sips of water and deposits the tissue into the trash.

"So, just to change topics, I think I had best mention a few of the countires just so you can have a layout of the land." Hadrian says as he returns to his seat.

"Villages?"

Hadrian nods. "Unlike Berk, or many islands on earth, the dreamworld actually has a name. Nacht." His tongue slips into that foreign tongue once more, the transition so smooth and the mention so casual as if it has always existed; which in a way, it has. "And it's not like Berk either. That's the name of the entire world or, continent, and it has divided territories for each of the queens, and then villages inside that."

"So, the entire place's name is Nacht, and within it are smaller continents of which each of the Queens rule individually."

"Right. And the four main ones are: Gelice, Lunctan, Alloria, and Ashen. Within those countries are smaller communities, as mentioned, and have also notable places and nature landmarks." Hadrian explains. "My camp was located near Ashen and was called Helnach."

"Incredible." Hiccup breathes. "So, um, after a year spent in the mine is when you escaped. So how did Lilith retrieve you?"

"Well, it really wasn't Lilith, but her daughter." Hadrian says. "Since I was now a fugitive, I couldn't afford to reveal my face, so I had to cover it. But I also had to find and make a place of my own."


End file.
